Hooked on Mnemonics
Now you can be incomprehensible in several languages.
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Are You Positive?
Neutrons aren't as simple as we thought.
Alex the Parrot
"If Alex were a dog, he would be 189 years old. But he's a parrot and he's 27. In parrot years that's 27. Unless Alex chokes on a nut or falls out of his cage, he should live another 50 years. In a perfect world, healthy parrots can live 80 to 90 years."
Music and the Abyss
Oliver Sacks on music and amnesia—and about just how puzzling cognition and memory truly are.
Music and the Abyss
Oliver Sacks on music and amnesia—and about just how puzzling cognition and memory truly are.
Not Just Legs
There's more to Diana Krall than just the sexy sizzle.
Spy vs Dancer?
The KGB's long war with Nureyev.
Which has a greater effect in the sound: the speakers or the room? Why?
Some say the first step in getting good sound is picking the right room for the system. Others find ways for a system to work in almost any environment. Which has a greater effect in the sound: the speakers or the room? Why?
Musical Fidelity 550K Supercharger monoblock power amplifier
How much amplifier power do you need? Most audiophiles figure a maximum of a few hundred watts per channel—beyond that, you're wasting your money or showing off. Others think that anything more than a few watts will mess up an amplifier's musical coherence or "purity," so they stop there and find uncommonly sensitive speakers, usually compression horns with cone woofers.
Onkyo A-9555 integrated amplifier
"Onkyo Returns to its Stereo Roots to Debut New Digital Amplifier Technology." This heading of the press release for Onkyo's A-9555 digital integrated amplifier was surely intended to warm the cockles of the two-channel audiophile's heart. Some of us remember the Onkyo Grand Integra amplifiers of the 1980s, which were considered competitive with the big Krells and Mark Levinsons of the day. To refresh my memory, I looked through my <I>Stereophile</I> archives and found the December 1985 issue (Vol.8 No.8), which included Larry Greenhill's review of the Grand Integra M-510, a 300Wpc power amplifier covered in lacquered persimmon wood, weighing 139 lbs, and costing $4200 (about $8000 in 2007 dollars). Larry was most impressed with the M-510, describing it as "a very powerful amplifier with outstanding sonics across the board—power with delicacy."